Uncle Sid the Babysitter
by TalionStormcrow
Summary: When the herd has plans to leave for the day, the underdog, Sid, rises to the opportunity to take care of Diego and Shira's son Cody. Despite the lack of trust from the herd with the exception of Shira, and a few choice words, Sid manages to get the job. Can Sid carry out his promise and keep Cody safe?
1. Opportunity Knocks

"Oh come on!"

"No Sid!"

The two were standing around dense area of the forest, the trees were swaying a bit in the summer wind, and the temperature was a bit higher than normal. The ground was a bit wet underneath them from the moisture, and a thin layer of fog had enveloped over the trees, the ghostly clouds slowly migrating.

" Sid.. I won't tell you again." Diego looked at the sloth before him, his tone was serious.

" Diego I can do this, I'm an uncle remember? That's what uncles do." Sid smiled as he said this, his determination persisting.

"I don't want you to look over him. We'll only be gone for a few hours. I'm sure Manny and Ellie can do it." Diego turned around and began to make his way back, hearing the footsteps of the animal behind him. The heat made it uncomfortable to stay put for a while, he had to keep moving.

"Come on Diego, I think I would be great as a babysitter. If you would just give me the chance-"

"Not gonna happen Sid." Diego retorted. He was beginning to get annoyed at Sids repeated attempts to change his mind. It wasn't that he didn't trust Sid... He just didn't trust "Babysitter Sid".. To him the two words did not go well together.

"Why not? I've done it before, you remember when we took that baby and brought it back to the humans."

"Oh, you mean the time you tried to climb up the side of a WATERFALL to bring it back to an abandoned encampment, nearly dropping it halfway up? Yea... I do remember that Sid." His remark was sarcastic, but to him it was a good reminder as to why he DOESN'T want Sid to do it.

Sid pouted, "How about the time we managed to actually bring it back to the humans? Don't you remember that?" He waddled over next to Diego. "I promise you Diego, nothing will happen."

Shira was laying on a rock, her silver-grey coat shining in the sunlight. In front of her was a little cub, a saber of an orange coat, and sea-grey eyes. She watched him crouch down and pounce at a bug, only to hit his head on the ground and roll about. She laughed, amused at the child's play. "Try again Cody, this time put your front paws out in front of you when you land."

" OK, mom. " the child crouched back down, determination in his eyes. He got ready, and pounced, only to hit his head again. He sat up and shook his head, looking at the adult saber who was obviously entertained by this. "Yea, yea laugh it up mom. I'll get it, don't worry." Shira chuckled, and looked over towards some bushes, she heard the voices of Diego and Sid, and it seemed they were in a bit of a scuffle.

"Diego.. When have I ever been irresponsible?" Diego and Sid cleared the bushes, they were back at the camp, the entire herd now able to hear what they were saying.

"Uh I don't know Sid... How about EVER SINCE I MET YOU." Diego raised his voice to a matter-of-fact tone, in disbelief that the sloth would try to use that as an argument... Did he honestly think that would help?

Manny looked over at the two, Ellie standing beside him with Peaches, Manny rolled his eyes, it was always something with those two. Behind them Crash and Eddie were rolling around fighting with each other, Ellie thought it was over something petty, like who cheated in a game of Log Roll.

"Go on Manny, do your thing, Adult for them." Peaches giggled at the comment. Ellie smiled, she didn't always play "Sarcastic Mommy", must have got it from Diego, but she had to admit it was funny to see Manny's reaction, which was usually grumpy and in a "not in the mood" fashion.

Manny walked over to the two arguing animals, he reached his trunk over to Sid, and batted the back of his head, earning a "HEY!" in response.

"What's going on now?"

"Manny.. I don't want Sid to babysit Cody, and I'm not changing my mind." The saber looked over at the goofy looking sloth and growled, intimidating Sid a bit.

"Come on guys, I can do it. I'm not THAT bad." Both Manny and Sid looked over at him with a look of surprise, which made Sid shut his mouth.

"Manny, can you and Ellie take care of him for a few hours please, we won't be gone long."

Manny looked back at the cub, who was still trying to impress his mother with his pouncing skills.

"Diego we've talked about this... Ellie, Peaches and I are going out for a walk today, and I don't think it would be a good idea to bring your adorable bouncy ball of fluff with us, bad enough we're taking the two boys." Diego scrunched his face a bit in annoyance to the last part of the comment.

"I told you guys I can do it, we'll be here until you come back. What do you think I'm going to lose him or something?"

"...Actually.. Yes. Or you'll end up sitting on him.." Diego reflected on that and realized that he just redefined the term 'babysitting'.

"There you guys go again, you know i really don't think you have much faith in me. I may be a sloth but I can still handle myself." He put his hands on his hips, impatient with the way they were talking to him. Sid may be clumsy sometimes but he still thought pretty highly of himself, knowing he could do something if he wanted to.

"You know Diego if you really wanted to stop him from speaking you could just eat him." All three animals looked over to find Shira walking over to them, Cody right behind her. "I think it could be a learning experience for Sid, besides we aren't near any other animals' territory, I don't see how it could be as bad as you think."

"Shira.. This is SID we're talking about-"

"Yea Diego," Shira's voice became a bit snippy, "This is Sid, the animal that, when you guys first met ended up carrying the baby back to the humans while trying to keep it away from a saber who wanted to bring it back to his pack... Or do you not remember that?"

All three of them shut up instantly, Diego not willing to make eye contact to the saberess, "Did you HAVE to go there?"

"Yes, because ever since I came here I've noticed that you and Manny haven't given Sid much chance at doing something, he IS a member of the herd too you know. I'm willing to give him a chance-"

"Shira-"

"A CHANCE, Diego, to prove that he can take responsibility... This is something we all do, we try new things. I did it when I left Gutts crew, and you did it when you left Sotos pack. So why not?"

Diego sighed begrudgingly. He didn't like the idea, but Shira did have a point. This would be the prime time for Sid to prove himself. He looked over at Sid, "Fine... You can babysit."

Sid jumped happily, wrapping his arms around him and kissing him on the head. "Thank you Diego, you won't regret it."

"I'm so enthusiastic about this..." Diego replied sarcastically.

Shira chukled and have Diego a loving nuzzle, "Everything will be fine."

"Sid.." Manny glared at him with his brown eyes, "I'm telling you this now before you go and mess this up.. Anything happens to Cody, both Diego and I will pummel you. Do you hear me?" He pointed his trunk and Sid, tapping his shoulder sharply as he said this. He was only half-serious about the pummeling part, but he figured the intimidation would help get it through to him that this is not something to take lightly.

" Don't worry, Manny, I'll take good care of him. Just go enjoy yourselves." Sid smiled his usual goofy smile Manny have him one more glare before leaving to go join his mate and his daughter. Diego looked over at Sid, "You know I don't like this, Sid... can i really trust you to do this?" He had a look of annoyance and worry, his eyes fixed upon Sid, studying him.

"Of course Diego!" Sid glanced and Cody for a moment, "We'll be perfectly fine... But.. What exactly is it that you guys are doing?"

"We're just going for a little day of relaxation. We'll be back.." He looked down and his cub, "You sure you're going to be okay Cody?"

"Yea dad! I'll be fine." Diego brought his paw down and brushed the little cubs back, the cub pushing into the padding affectionately. Diego turned and walked over to his mate, and the herd separated. Manny, Ellie, Peaches and the boys departed for their walk, while Diego and Shira left to begin their day of relaxation, away from the herd. Cody and Sid were left alone to entertain themselves however they wish. Sid looked down at the cub, a feeling of protectiveness coming over him. _Finally... Alright Cody, I'm the babysitter. Yea, okay this will work out.. I'm not going to mess this one up._

 **I wonder how this one will turn out.. Well Sid it looks like you got what you wanted, let's just see how you do. What do you guys think? I remember watching Ice Age 3 and thinking about how Sid would do as a babysitter. I pondered the idea of Sid doing something like that, only not for Peaches. Anyway, we'll see how it goes. Reviews and criticism encouraged, if you have any ideas on what I should do with this I'd love to hear about it either through the reviews or pm.**


	2. Trouble

**Thanks for the suggestions! I am trying to bring this story together to the best of my ability.. It's a bit tough when you have a whole series and then life to deal with lol. But anywho, here's the next chapter!**

The sloth looked down at the saber, who was now sitting on its haunches. "So Cody.. What do you want to do?" Sid asked. The saber cub grew a smile and stood back up, immediately going into a pouncing stance.

"Let's play a game Uncle Sid!" Sid admired the sabers enthusiasm, and tried to think of one. _Well... There are a lot of hiding spots around here, we could play some hide and seek..._ Sids' smile grew, his imperfect teeth showing. "Alright Cody! We're going to play a game of hide and Seek! I'll search for you, you go ahead and hide!"

"Alright! No peeking Uncle Sid!" Sid walked over to a tree, and proceeded to close his eyes, hiding his face along his arm which he placed on the tree. "1...2...3..."

Cody watched Sid count for a bit, making sure he didn't peak. After the saber cub was sure, he ran off to go find a hiding spot. He made his way towards a pine tree by the cave, and proceeded to climb it, using his tiny claws to grip the wood.

"...7...8...9...10! Ready or not, here I come!" Sid turned around and smiled at the vacant scene around him. He knew that Cody had to be nearby, so he decided to slowly make his way towards the cave. "Cooooody... " he said slowly. He listened for any sound, anything that would tell him where the other player was.

Cody watched it all from the tree. He quietly laughed at Sid for thinking he was in the cave. He slowly walked along the branch he was balancing on, finding it quite easy due to the grip his tiny claws gave him. His eyes remained focused on the sloth while subconsciously performing this stealthy move, and was surprised when he heard a snap. Looking down he watched as a tiny stick fall from the tree and hit the ground, causing Sid to turn and watch it happen.

Sid smiled and pretended like nothing was wrong, nonchalantly walking over to the stick he put his arms behind his back, whistling while doing so. When he reached the fallen stick he picked it up, Hmm..I wonder..." He looked up, only to feel the saber cub hit him hard, jumping out of the tree and knocking him to the ground. Sid let out a "UMPH" when his back hit the earth.

Cody sat up, feeling quite proud of himself for taking the sloth down. "I win!" He hopped off of Sid and strutted around while Sid struggled a bit to sit up. _That's his father alright..._ *BOOM* both Sid and Cody jumped in alarm at the sound. Sid immediately looked up and noticed monstrous smokey black clouds rolling in, their ominous movements enough to tell Sid to get Cody to shelter. "Cody! Come on we have to get inside!"

* * *

Diego and Shira were walking down a trail, the forestry around them was thick, making the trail seem thin even though it was enough to fit three sabers. Up above the sunlight was shining down, flooding all life in light. Shira tried to enjoy herself, but it was tough as she could see the worry in Diego's eyes, let alone feel it coming off of him.

"You should try to relax, I don't like to see you like this when we are away from the herd.." Shira kept her eyes on the path ahead, taking in the scenery, TRYING to at least. Diego didn't say or do anything, instead he kept his head pointed towards the ground, the worry on his face evident no matter how hard he tried to conceal it.

"Diego... Sid can take care of himself-"

"That's just it Shira, he can't. Let's face it.. He'd probably be dead if it weren't for us. What does that tell you? He has no sense of responsibility, he can't do one single thing without messing up. I don't trust him with my kid."

"Sid may screw up every now and then, but he doesn't mean to. And you know, you wouldn't be here as well if it weren't for him." Diego have Shira a puzzled look.

"I remember the story about the meltdown. Sid taught you how to swim, you probably wouldn't have survived let alone saved the herd if he hadn't pushed you on that. Plus he was the first out of all of you to create fire.-"

"Which he learned on accident." Shira stopped, causing Diego to do the same. She raised an eyebrow, a gesture to tell Diego that he knew exactly what she meant. Diego sighed, surrendering. "Maybe you're right... But I just can't shake the feeling that something could go wrong Shira, Sid is after all a clutz."

Shira moved in and nuzzled his neck, giving his ear an affectionate lick. "You worry too much." Diego, however didn't change his expression. "You need to just let him show you what he can do, trust me.. Everything will be okay. Besides, Cody seemed more than willing to let Sid do this, he knew we would take him along if he wanted to go."

"Shira I just.." He sighed, not seeing the point in trying to explain anymore. Both of them looked up, and noticed that black clouds began to block out the sun. Diego looked at Shira, "I guess " jynx" is the word we're looking for here?"

"So much for our day of relaxation...Come on, let's head back. We can do this tomorrow."

* * *

Sid and Cody both entered the cave, seeking shelter from the impending storm heading their way. A couple seconds later, a flash of lightning and a loud boom from above shook the ground. Cody began to shake a bit, his ears going flat against his head. Sid looked at the cub and realized something, "Cody.. Are you afraid of thunderstorms?" The cub only looked at him and continued to shake.

"Awe, don't worry.. It's just thunder Cody, it can't hurt you-" *BOOM* Both Sid and Cody jumped, Sid had just witnessed a lightning bolt strike the ground in front of him, right outside the cave. He took a couple steps back and began to shake himself.

Cody looked up in annoyance, "So much for the comforting words, Uncle Sid..." Both animals were standing next to each other, both of them shaking in fear of the natural occurrence. Sid began to realize that shaking wasn't going to help the situation, and tried to get a hold of himself... That is until another lightening bolt stuck, this time hitting a tree. Sid cried out, and started to smell something burning. "Cody... Do you smell that?"

Cody put his nose out, sniffing the air, "Smells like..." Both animals slowly looked at each other..

"FIRE!" They both said in unison. Sid picked up Cody and exited the cave, only to be met with the sight of dozens of trees set aflame by the lightning. Aids eyes went wide, and he quickly looked around, trying to find a place to go. By this time the wind had picked up, causing the fire to spread even faster.

Finding no other option, and fearing for Cody's safety, Sid started into the forest in an attempt to get away from the fire.

 **I'm sorry guys, I've got so much going on right now, this should have been updated a while ago. I hope this is a reminder that I am not giving up this story, and now that I'll have a little more time to myself I'm going to get it going. Hope you enjoy this chapter, the third one is already in the works ;). As always, you know that reviews are helpful, but never required.**


	3. Sid the Bold

"AGH!" A high pitched scream rang through the now burning forest. It was Sid, who was now running amongst hundreds of animals who's homes are now destroyed or are still in the process. In his arms was Cody, who was now bouncing up and down as Sid tried to make his way to safety. Sid made passing glances to nightmarish scenes ahead... Animals that were burning alive, running around trying to find SOMETHING to put themselves out. It was something he had never seen before.. And hoped he never saw again.

He stopped, ahead of him was a river, which was now raging due to the storm which has taken hold of the land. _Oh no... No no no.. Not a good idea..._ He looked around, attempting to find a better alternative. _I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW DEEP IT IS! Why now? Why this day!?_ He looked down at the tiny cub in his arms, who was now shaking from being drenched in rain. "Cody... Cody look at me."

The cub did, a frightened, fearful look that gave Sid the chills. And in this turmoil which has befallen the two, Sid tried to come up with the best encouragement he possibly can. "We're going to have to find a way to the other side. There isn't a fire, and I'm pretty sure that Diego and Shira are nearby.."

Cody stared into Sids eyes, his fear overbearing on the sloth. "Cody, I need you to be really brave right now, alright? Can you do that for me?"

Cody shook his head, "Yes.." He sniffled. Sid began to look around again. In the river he saw branches and sticks flowing through it, and realized that this would be a lot more dangerous than previously thought. _I REALLY don't want to do this but..._ _it isn't that far to cross.. I'm sure I'll be pushed along in the river, but I'll still make it. All I would have to do is grab a hold of a branch or something and pull us up. My only worry is where this river goes._

Sid jumped to a loud cracking sound coming from behind him. Sis turned to see a massive tree buckling and falling along the rivers edge where he stood. _Well.. Guess that answers my question. ONE WAY! ._ He jumped into the river, and immediately felt the force of the water begin to push him. Sid struggled to keep his head above the water, trying his hardest to swim to the other side. Koda climbed onto his back, in his attempt to hold on he dug his claws into Sids back, making him cringe a bit.

 _C_ _ome on Sid.. Just like you showed Diego.._ Sid could feel his muscles burn as he kicked and swam his way to the other side. He was focusing so hard that it wasn't until he heard a "UNCLE SID!" That he turned to see a giant log hit the water right next to him. He scrambled, and lost whatever control he had.. He was now at the mercy of the water.

He found himself getting thrown into debris, the rocks, branches and anything else in the waters path. Sids instincts went into overdrive, and he attempted to find the surface. He pushed himself up, and was for once relieved that his back was in pain.. A reminder that the poor cub was still attached, the coughing told him that he was alive as well.

Sid strained. In the distance he saw what he was looking for, there was foliage and roots of trees sticking out of the dwindling earth, which was now being eaten away at by the raging water. "CODY! UP AHEAD! HANG ON!" Sid continued to push to the other side, desperate to get out with what little strength he had left in him. He saw the branches rapidly approaching, and forced his way through the debris to grab a hold of the roots of a slanted tree, which he figured didn't have much time left before it fell victim to the natural force.

He managed to grip it with one paw, and pulled himself in despite the force working against him. "GET OFF CODY! JUMP!" The small saber did as he was told, and jumped to safety, Sid following close behind. He started to pull himself up, his soaked fur adding even more weight and tiring him out even further. When he reached the land he crawled on his hands and knees and began to kiss the earth.

"Oh thank you. Thank you thank you thank you!" Cody stood beside him, watching this whole thing go down weirded him out a bit. "Ahem...uh.. Sid!? Shouldn't we uh..." Sid stopped and looked at the shaking child.

"Yea... Yea let's get going. There has to be some place we can find shelter until the storm blows over!" Sid found it hard to catch his breath, he felt heavy from the fatigue, but knew he had to keep going. He picked up Cody and put him on his back. He found the pain to be more tolerable for some reason... As if some sort of newfound strength has been discovered.

They hastily made their way through the edge of the forest, the thick treetops offered them some relief from the torrential downpour taking place. The clouds created a creepy dimness to the already creepy forest.. Even more unnerving was the fact that this place was unexplored.. And both animals knew this.

"Alright Cody..we stay along the edge of the river, as long as we can see it we know we're near our own territory." They were about a mile in to their travels next to the river. when..

"Hey Terra... Look at this.." Sid stopped in his tracks. _Oh no.._ He slowly turned to see two sabers standing behind him. One of them had orange fur with a white underbelly, much like Diego only bigger. Next to him was a female with the same color fur, the only difference was she had one oversized tooth that was missing, broken near the lip.

"A sloth? Carrying a saber cub?" She sniffed the air, and recoiled in distaste, "Ugh.. There are things called baths you know!"

"Shut up Terra! So... What is a lone sloth doing out here with this... Runt?" Cody pursed his lips in anger and began to growl. Sid glanced down and put his paw over Codys mouth, the growling still present.

Both sabers began to coo and laugh sarcastically, "LOOK! THE LITTLE KITTY CAT IS SOOO ANGRY!" Terra shook her head in laughter, but it was stifled when Cody jumped out of Sids arms and let out a little yelp. Terra instantly went into attack position and brought her face to the tiny cub and roared.

"Cody!" Sid grabbed a rock and swung it as hard as he could at the female, knocking her face to the side and causing a nasty bruise to form around her eye.

"OOOOH! You just got attacked by a sloth, Terra!" The male saber began to point and laugh. Meanwhile Sid immediately grabbed Codyand ran away, quickly making the distance between the two parties further.

"*SMACK* Terra brought down her paw upon the second saber, bringing him out of his joyful moment. "Ugh! Raj! Look at that.. You know I don't think we ordered our meal to go.. So, uh.. GO AFTER IT!"

Raj broke into a full on sprint, Terra trailing close behind. Behind him Sid could here the roaring of two angry and hungry sabers, and broke into a sprint of his own. _We are not going to survive this one... DIEGO'S GOING TO KILL ME!_

 **Chapter three is complete! Hope you enjoy :)**


	4. Sid the Brave

Sid could hear the footsteps rapidly approaching him, but he was too frightened to turn around. He decided that the best option would be to stay by the water since he figured that sabers don't like it.. And can't swim. He knew that the time for action and contact was rapidly approaching, and this only made his heart pound faster. In his arms, Cody had decided to be the lookout, watching Sid's back to alert him.

"OH HOW I LOVE THE CHASE!" Raj yelled out, darting between the trees in an attempt to make the already easy meal a bit more difficult for him.

"Uuuhh... SID!" Cody whimpered in fear at the saber quickly closing in behind them. In a rather quick response, Sid shifted, darting into a thicker patch of trees. Ahead he saw a downed one and slid in the mud underneath it, avoiding it by mere inches. Raj quickly followed behind, jumping over the log.

"COME ON SLOTH! LET'S SEE WHAT YA GOT!"

Sid heard the sound of rushing water ahead, and stopped at the sight of the waterfall. "Oh no..."

"There's no where to run. Give up the child, and I might just let you live." Sid quickly turned to see Raj crouching, ready to attack.

HEY! Turn around! Lemme see!" Cody quickly shifted his position, now sitting on Sids hand leaning on his chest. "Oh... Can I turn around now?"

"The child isn't a meal. You can't have him."

"I don't think you understand what's happening here.. You're a sloth, I'm a saber. I need to eat, and you two would make a great meal. Now hand it over tubby."

Sid hugged the cub in his hands. "No." He turned around towards the waterfall and looked down, noticing the massive fall to Icy cold waters below.

"Hang on Cody..." He gripped the cub tight, and felt the large saber hit his back as the collided.

Sid turned in the air, with Cody now gripping his back with his claws. Sid grabbed a hold of Raj's paw and bit into it hard, stopping him from reaching the cub. Raj recoiled in pain and swatted Sid with his other paw, dazing him a bit and giving Raj enough time to bite into Sids shoulder and claw his belly. Sid quickly regained his focus and grabbed both of raj's paws, flipping him over so that Sid was on top of him.

They all hit the water. Sid's vision went, and he gave in to the nothingness.

* * *

Diego and Shira ran through the forest, trying to get back to Sid. After smelling the smoke, they knew something bad had happened. "This is why I don't trust him Shira! This is why I wouldn't let him watch Cody!"

"We don't even know what happened yet! It may not have been him! Have a little faith." She said through her pants as she raced back with him.

"Yea.. I've had faith.. HAD being the key word here!"

*SPLASH*

Both of them stopped in their tracks, next to them they heard the sound of bodies hitting water. "Come on... Let's check it out." Diego was the first to get a closer look. The water was raging in front of him, Diego scanned the water, waiting to see if anything would come up, and almost gave up until he heard splashing come from a little down wind. He looked to his right to see Sid clambering his way out of the water with an unconscious... "CODY!" He leaped into the water and quickly made his way to the other side, his muscles worked their way through the water with little issue. Shira tailed behind him, her ability to swim proved to be adroit as well.

"Diego?" Sid said weakly. His fur was matted and heavy, and he was losing blood fast. Sid lifted his hand from his wound to take a look. Along the length of his body there were three deep gash marks, and a piece of his shoulder was exposed from the bite. He put down Cody and went to get back up, but was pinned to the ground by the saber.

"I NEVER SHOULD HAVE TRUSTED YOU! I KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN!" Sid looked into Diego's eyes with fear in his own, and saw only rage.

"Diego!" Shira protested.

"I- I was chas-"

"YOU HAD ONE JOB! ONE..JOB! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!? THIS IS UNMARKED TERRITORY! OUT HERE YOU'RE FAIR GAME!" Diego's teeth were mere inches from the sloths throat, if Sid didn't know any better he would have thought that Diego was going to kill him right there. He could feel tears welling up in his eyes, but didn't let them fall.. Not yet. It wasn't over..

"Die-"

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU! What am I saying.. I TOTALLY EXPECTED THIS TO HAPPEN, BUT IT WAS SHIRA WHO STOOD UP FOR YOU!"

"Diego you're hurting him!"

"Diego, BEH-"

"You know what, Sid? I..I don't even know why you're in this herd. You're nothing but a useless clutz."

"DIEGO! BEHIND YOU!" Diego Shira quickly turned to see a horribly battered saber behind them. One of his claws broke off, and one of his sabers were broken as well. Diego noticed that his left paw was broken.

"Back off.. Whoever you are, you don't want to do this." Diego eyed the saber, ready for any attack that may occur. He backed up a bit, showing his dominance over the sloth and the cub.

"They're yours?" The saber spit out blood and several teeth on the ground. He limped as he closed the distance a bit.

"Yea... Leave." Diego lowered himself a bit. It was obvious that his enemy was not in any condition to fight, but he was bigger than Diego so he took no chances.

"Relax... I'm busted as it is. Just don't follow me. I'm going home, you can keep the stupid sloth, he stinks anyway." Diego watched the saber limp off into the forest, leaving a slight blood trail behind him. Diego figured he wouldn't be a problem, and that blood trail wouldn't help him much as there were many predators out and about who would kill for their own pound of flesh.

"Diego?" He whirled his head around to see Sid holding Cody in his arms, cradling him. Diego didn't see him breathing, which only angered him more.

"Give him to me...Now." The words escaped the saber, emitted in a low, threatening tone. This made the sloth break, and he instantly began to sob. He looked down at the loose limbed cub sullenly, not knowing what to do. Then it hit him.

"D-did you mean that? What you said?"

Diego took the cub away from Sid, holding it by the scruff of its neck. He didn't respond, but he laid down on the ground and began to clean off the seemingly lifeless body that was his son. Sid sat there, waiting for a response from the silent animal, and after several minutes of no reply, he tried again.

"Diego... Please.. Talk to me." No reply. Sid got up walked over to him and was instantly met with resistance. Diego got up and growled at the weeping sloth, surprising him with a full row of teeth exposed. Shira said nothing, currently in disbelief at the sight of her son.

Sid stood there for a moment, and found something inside him sort of tick.. A sort of strength that had been dormant forever now released itself, giving him exactly what he needed to handle the situation. He was done. Done with everything. The years of nothing but insults, put downs, distrust, and preconceptions has wreaked havoc on his mind.

He punched Diego in the face. Diego of course was taken by surprise at the sudden action, and cried out. He began to rub his nose from the hard punch, soothing the sensitive nerves in it.

"Do you want to know why I stay? You want to know why I'm still here? I'm here because I thought... THOUGHT Diego, that this herd would be nothing but good. That I could spend the rest of my days with people who cared and loved me. I can see I was wrong."

"You-"

"I don't get it how its alright for Sid the sloth to be picked on by everyone in the herd 24/7...It's because I seem weak and defenseless, doesn't it?"

"Well.. You are always complaining about doing things, and you aren't exactly built."

"Yea? News flash... I JUST SAVED YOUR SON FROM BECOMING A MEAL! And all you can do is stand there and comment on my weaknesses."

"I..."

"Do you ever see me do that to you?"

Diego didn't respond, he only stared.

"It hurts, Diego. It really does. I stay because I care.. Because I love you guys. Sure, in the beginning it was just so I could I have protection, but it became more than that. I stay because I want to help, anyway I can. I try, and no matter how hard I do... I still get no respect from any of you." Sid huffed, wobbling a bit from the loss of blood.

"Sid... Are you okay?" Diego walked towards him but was stopped. Sid held out his hand and pushed Diego's face away from him. Diego watched in shock as Sid denied his offer to help him.

"Don't talk to me." Sid said to him in a low, despairing voice. It was darker than normal, which frightened Diego the most. He realized that what he said he wouldn't be able to take back.

"Sid.."

Sid began to walk away in the opposite direction, paying no attention to the person he used to regard as family.

Diego ran up in front of him, blocking Sids way. "I'm sorry, Sid." His tone was soft and soothing, no longer the rough and tumble kind of voice he usually used when the sloths presence was known. This was a side of Diego he had gotten used to over the years of being in a herd, and he found it to work out better than his old cold self.

"You don't need to apologize Diego. I completely understand. I AM a clutz...I AM weak.."

"You may be a clutz Sid but you're not weak. You managed to keep that saber away from Cody.. That was pretty brave of you Sid."

"Dad?" Both of them stopped talking, a quiet, innocent voice arose from behind Sid. Diego looked over his shoulder to see Cody, standing upright and very much alive. Diego let out a tiny huff of breath and ran towards him, stopping inches from his tiny body to lick him and hug him.

Sid smiled and sighed in relief at knowing that Cody was alright. "Are you hurt Cody?"

"No Uncle Sid, are we fine now?"

"Yea.. Yea we are, thanks to Sid."

"Awe, am I interrupting something?" All three animals turned to see Terra standing on top of a rock beside the waterfall. Diego stood his ground, blocking Cody from the saber.

 **Chapter four complete! My blockage sort of lifted a bit. I hope you enjoy :)**


	5. A Bold Move

"Sid, take Cody and hide." Diego said as he pushed the little cub towards Sid, who picked it up and began to back up slowly while keeping an eye on the parents. He knew that at any moment things were going to blow up, and wanted to do everything he could to help.

"Diego, let me help." Such strange foreign words coming from the sloths mouth, Diego thought for a moment that it wasn't even Sid talking but someone else.

"Sid.. Do as I say." Diego said.

"Come on, I can-"

Diego wasn't having it. "SID!"

"DAD!" Yelled Cody, and after very little afterthought Sid began to distance himself from the Sabers. He ran, not knowing where to go or where to hide. Cody trembled in his arms, and began to sob at the thought of what was about to happen to his parents.

Diego moved closer to Shira, keeping his eye on the enemy saberes in front of them. He held a threatening stare, curling his lips into a snarl and letting out a low growl in an attempt to frighten the smaller one.

"Go take care of Sid. He has no idea where he's going." He said to Shira in a low tone.

"Are you kidding? I'm fighting with you, we can take her easily."

"I won't risk harm coming to you. Go." He pawed at her chest with his hind leg, pushing her away. She resisted, but knew that if she didn't lead Sid to safety that it would take hours to find him. She stepped away begrudgingly, letting out a sharp breath, indicating her distaste at the idea. When they mated she made a promise to stay by his side, and she felt that by leaving him she was breaking it, but knew it was for the greater good.

"Just stay alive." That was the only thing she said to him. She was going to add "Softie" at the end, but figured that the saberess would only use that name as ammo. She turned and ran, tracking down the sloth.

"How cute, protecting your family like that." Terra mocked at Diego. She began to pace, letting loose a low growl from her throat as she said it.

Diego watched her move, moving his eyes in unison with her body. "I try." He said coyly. He contracted his claws, digging them into the dirt a bit. He showed a slight hint of anxiety, and instantly cursed himself for doing it. All he wanted to do was leave, to get back home to his family and forget that this ever happened, but knew that thoughts like these weren't going to help him.

"Why go out of your way to protect that pitiful creature? The sloth is food, not family."

"He's family to me." Diego snapped back quickly.

"Pft, a bit of a sofie aren't we?"

Diego growled at the taunt, and cursed himself again. Why couldn't he keep control of himself?

"Is there any way we can avoid this?" There he goes again. Diego scorned himself internally at the comment. Had his time spent with the herd really softened him up like that? He knew it was inevitable but.. Really?

"Hmm.." Terra lunged at him, claws pointed at his throat. Diego turned, quickly dodging the quick move and jump on her right flank, scratching it up with his own claws. Terra let loose a quick roar and refocused herself, and charged Diego. Diego attempted a parry, but was a bit too slow, earning a gash from Terra's claw on his own leg.

He let show a slight tremble, quickly realizing that the saberess had sharper claws and was faster in her movements. He looked at his leg, quickly assessing the damage and, seeing it as being treatable, continued his defense.

Terra made a quick swipe to his left flank, and Diego dashed away, barely scratching him. With a single push Diego managed to put his weight into knocking Terra onto her side. He was about to pin her when he felt a sharp stinging pain in his right leg. He roared in pain and, with the couple second distraction, turned back right into Terra's claw, scarring his right eye.

"How do you like that!?" She yelled. She paced a bit, panting.

Blood began to pour from his wound, hindering his vision. He growled as the stinging from the blood in his eye began to intensify. He shook his head quickly and zeroed in on the fast approaching tiger. He growled and jumped out of the way, landing awkwardly on his injured leg. He was about to counterattack when he was caught by surprise by his enemy, feeling her jaws clamp down on his front leg.

She had jumped him when he was recuperating from his landing. He learned something new; she was relentless.

"Come ON!" She complained, "This is all you have? I'm gonna kill you, AND that stupid sloth.. It would be more than enough to feed me.."

"Screw you.." Diego retorted. He jumped her and slashed her eye, returning what he had been given. The mere force exerted from his powerful and obviously more robust arm had been enough to violently knock back her head. Blood spewed from the wound and her mouth, caking the ground somewhere a few feet away.

He smiled, but it was short lived. She quickly snapped her head back and stared at him. She then did something he didn't expect... Not from a female anyway. She opened her mouth and revealed a loose tooth. She wiggled it with her tongue, playing with it a bit.. _mocking_ him, then proceeded to open up her mouth and pull it out. Diego cringed in disgust from the act, it was one of her teeth right beside her canine. She rolled it in her paw and threw it at him.

"Didn't your parents ever tell you not to hit girls?" She said, still mocking him.

"Self defense, kitty."

"DON'T.. call me kitty.."

 _Every time.._ he thought.

She lunged, spitting blood at him. The distraction worked, he quickly raised his paw to deflect the liquid and paid the price instantly..

She pushed him on his side and bit through his paw, impaling it with her smaller but still considerably oversized saber.

Diego yowled and pushed her off. He struggled, wincing at the pain as he raised himself up. He knew that the time for holding back was over. Sid had probably gotten some good distance away from the fight, and no doubt with Shira by his side he figured they were safe. It was at this moment that Diego seemed to shift his own mindset. It was almost like a burning rage kept buried beneath the softened core had let itself loose, a cold bloodedness long let go since Soto.. The time for distraction was over.. He was going to kill her.

She attempted to jump him again, and with swift movement he parried. He wouldn't give her a moment to ready herself. He ran towards her and body slammed her.

Terra yelped in surprise from the amount of force hitting her body. She brought a claw down upon Diego's belly, and both of them hit the raging water.

* * *

Shira sighed in disappointment. She found it to be rather easy tracking Sid. In less than a minute she had managed to catch his scent, and his footprints were less than covered. She felt like killing him when she found him, but found that in this moment thoughts like this weren't helpful.

She tracked him to a cave less than a mile away from the waterfall. _Not what he meant when he said take him and hide.._

She caught his and Cody's scent and walked up to the mouth of it. The cave itself was dark and cold, but didn't seem to be deep. It held a cold, unsettling silence that chilled her to the bone. "Cody?"

"Mom?" She heard in the darkness.

"Yes, are you alright?"

"Yea.. I'm scared.." Cody said as he came out. He nuzzled Shira, who wasn't paying attention, as she found him to be the only one there. this raised concerns.. Angry, _deep_ concerns.

"Honey.. Where is Sid?"

"He told me that you were coming, and that I should wait for you."

"Okay.. But where is he?"

"He said he was going back to help Diego. We could hear everything.. Even from here. He said it didn't sound good, and that he was going to help."

The words made Shira's heart sink. She felt a lump form in her throat, and found herself unable to spell. Sid.. The weakest link.. Was going back to help Diego fight another saber? What had gotten into him?

She wanted to go back, to stop him... But who would stay and watch over Cody? As much as she hated to admit it, she now realized with fright that she had only one option:

Let Sid go.

 **Another chapter for you guys! I started getting a little bit of writers block again, but finally worked through it.. Just needed a beer :3**

 **Anywho, hope you enjoy it and work on my other fics shall continue.**


	6. A Brave Action

Diego struggled against the female saber who had begun flailing her paws at him wildly in an attempt to keep some distance. Against the rapids, they found themselves fighting each other as well as the water, and Diego had found himself to be the better swimmer _thanks to Sid._

Terra raked a claw along Diego's chest, but had realized to herself that doing so only made her regret the action as she was slammed against a rock in return. The current quickly proved to be quite a dangerous adversary forcing both sabers to exhaust strength just to stay afloat. She struggled, going under and swallowing water as she fought to resurface. Diego saw this as an opportunity and began to bear his weight down upon her head, forcing her under the water.

Terra quickly began to fight back, flailing her legs and kicking at Diego, who only pressed down harder. Things didn't go exactly as planned however, as Diego was caught by surprise with a kick to his groin, causing him to lurch and let go of her. She resurfaced, gasping for air as the two began picking up speed.

"YOU'RE CRAZY!" She screamed between breaths.

"YOU TRIED TO KILL ME FIRST!" Diego quickly replied.

"SO YOU CHOOSE TO DROWN ME!?" Diego shrugged at the comment, and lunged back at her. His swift movement caught her off guard, quickly closing the distance and allowing him to make the first move, again thanks to Sid...

He swatted her face, splashing water and forcing her to flinch. With that distraction he grabbed her head and flung her into another passing rock. A dull thud was heard followed by the saberess crying out in pain. When she turned her head back to him he quickly saw the damage he had done, causing a deep gash to form across the top of her head and behind her ear. She was dazed a bit, judging by her half closed eyes. He took the opportunity and attempted to swim his way towards her using the current as an ally. If he was to end this it would be now.

* * *

Sid waddled through the forest in search of his feline friend. Following the growls, grunts and cries seemed like a good idea to him, but now he couldn't hear any of it.. The only thing he could hear was rushing water.

 _Hmm... should probably follow it back..._

He continued along, following the water to its source. In his mind Sid began to think back to what Diego had said, about him being a clutz and useless to the herd... How long has that been on the sabers mind? Sid knew that these thoughts weren't helping, but he couldn't help it because, well how do you stop thinking about things that have been told to you your entire life?

The more he thought about it, the more it started to eat at him. Sid slowed his pace as the thoughts were screaming in his head..overwhelming him..

 _what if I can't help? What am I doing.._

Let's face it, he traveled with manny because he had found the mammoth to be a good source of protection... Throwing an entire rhino? What more could you ask for? And Diego... Well he was just as vicious. Both have shown their valor in battle, and courage in trying times, but who screamed and flinched? Of course, he had displayed such character in those times... Occasionally, but those instances were few.

 _A coward..._ the word buried itself in his mind, torturing him with its deriding sound. It echoed throughout, destroying the few positive thoughts he had about himself and mocking his very soul. Was this.. _this thing.._ supposed to save an entire family? Let alone a very capable and fully grown **cat**?

Throughout their entire time being a herd, it had always been Sid who screwed up.. Sid who fell behind, Sid who was picked on.. Seen as defenseless, tiny and insignificant despite himself being the reason the three were brought together. Manny was the smart, stoic tough guy and leader of the herd while Diego was the tracker, the hunter and protector of the herd... So what was Sid to them?

 _Useless.._ a name bestowed upon him by countless others whom he had the pleasure of knowing, the word "pleasure" being kind in every way. Never once had he let it get to him, so why now? It seemed that everything he had attempted, even for the sake of trying to help had done more harm than good, even going to the point of putting everyone in danger. How much worse could things get? And trust... There was almost no trust when it came to the sloth, and now he could finally get a clear picture as to why that was.

Perhaps it _was_ best he left the herd...

He frowned. The words had begun to capitalize on his weakness. He almost forgot what he was doing... Would it have mattered if he did? Probably not, might only end up making things worse...

But... Then again, since this entire endeavor, since he had he privilege of being a babysitter.. Something sparked. He had actually punched Diego, the saber toothed tiger who he feared for the longest time.. Straight in the face. And he flinched, wincing from the pain.. He actually _hurt_ , be it for a moment, a fully grown predator... Maybe there was strength to be found?

He shook his head, _no more.._

Up ahead, he saw a distant form, no.. Two forms, rapidly approaching in the raging waters.

 _Time for action.._ he thought as he began waddling towards them.

* * *

"AARGH!"

Diego took in a large breath, shocked at the quick slash to his face by the once dazed saber. He must've underestimated her, because the moment he tried to finish her she sprung to life.

"Oh.. I'm sorry! Did I hurt you? Here let me FIX THAT!" Another claw found its way into his shoulder, but not before he managed to catch it with his jaws. As he bit down on her, he pushed forward until he managed to slash her own face.

As Terra pushed away, Diego quickly caught sight of something particularly... Bad. Up ahead, another waterfall was quickly approaching them. Finding very little time to be spent before falling to an indefinite death, Diego searched for something to grab a hold of. He broke off the fight and swam towards some overgrowth along the edge of the land which hung just above the water. He grabbed at some tree limbs, but found them to be too weak for an animal his size.. That was when he saw..

"SID!" He shouted at the rapidly approaching sloth.

"DIEGO! HOLD ON BUDDY!" Sid kneeled down, extending his paw to the saber. As Diego approached him, Sid quickly grabbed a tree and wrapped his other arm around it for support. Diego clawed at the earth and pulled himself up a bit, meeting Sid's paw with his own. For a moment, the saber found himself breathing a sigh of relief, especially with death only inches away in the form of a raging wall of falling water..

Sid began to pull up his friend, straining as he found every ounce of his strength being leeched out of him by the several hundred pound cat. At least he wasn't alone in the struggle, as Diego found himself to be quite fatigued himself, and with his last bit of will pulled himself the rest of the way, only to collapse on the ground and close his eyes..

"Thanks buddy.." He said under heavy breaths.

The next few seconds ran by quickly, almost like a blur...

"DIEGO, BEHIND YOU!"

"SID! DON'T YOU DARE!"

*SPLASH*

"SIIIIIIIIID!"

 **Uh... Yea so here you go guys!**

 **I uh.. Yea I've been dealing with.. Rather a lot lately.. Kind of not into explaining it right now.**

 **Hope you enjoy this chapter! R &R! Next chapter will take a bit, but it'll get done. **


	7. A Promise Kept

_"Dad... "_

Ugh, I know that voice..I just don't want to..

" _Dad wake up!"_

I know why he's saying that...

" _Dad!"_

The nightmare.

* * *

Cody pushed on Diego's muzzle again, hoping that his quick movement would wake the shaking saber. This was the fifth night in a row. Always the same...

Always.

With a loud yelp Diego finally jolted awake, panting and scanning the area wildly, though he didn't really know why..

No.. He knew.

It's been three months since the incident.. Three months since that dreadful day.. And on a night like this?

Always.

He shook his head lightly, staring into the grey eyes of his mate, who was laying down in front of him, watching his every movement. Shira had been like that ever since that day as well. Not afraid, just worried. Of course he couldn't blame her, for he felt the same. As for Cody? Apparently he doesn't even remember.. though to Diego that seemed more like a defense against having the topic brought up.

It was cold.. Unusually cold tonight. Though he supposed every night had been like this.. There was always this sort of empty light to be found within the noiseless atmosphere. A creeping silence that seemed to snake it's way into their lives, drowning out all sense of endearment.

Always.

Three months. He scanned the area around him. It was so quiet, so.. Isolated. Whereas before there would be life all around him now he found only loneliness. Where there was once love and happiness he found only emptiness. Yea, they left.. He was alone with the only family he'll ever have..

The thought brought a welling sadness.. It shouldn't, of course he still has the love of his life and his son, thanks to..

A tear had escaped him. After everything he had been through... Everything he'd endured.. Everything he'd done to make sure this didn't happen, and yet it still occurs. Why?

 ** _What have I become..._**

Manny couldn't handle it. It was too much for him. After Diego found them, he needed only look at Manny to see the hurt.. The heartbreak.. Once again, the mammoth had lost a piece of himself. Once again, he lost another family member. Diego was hurt as well but... He could only imagine. A couple weeks after Manny came to Diego and told him the situation..

 _"I just... I can't.. You'll always be my friend and family, but I can't.. "_

Diego understood. He felt the same way. It was tearjerking to see Manny, the strong hearted leader just... Break right in front of him. Both of them were hurt and in shock at the suddenness of it all.. One day Manny saw him, talked to him.. And the next.. Nothing.

Nothing.

They had decided, before departing, to spend at least one night together, just the two of them. They sat in the darkness.. the cold, unfeeling darkness, and lamented. Without the fire, they were filled with a cold only one person knew how to warm up.. But he was gone.

 _"I'll visit you sometime buddy, I won't be too far away. You know I love you, and your family but.."_

Those were the last words Diego heard come out of the mammoth. Of course, Ellie, Peaches and the possums followed, being that they were all related.. And here he is now..

" _It's alright, Manny."_

 ** _My sweetest friend.._**

He got up, not even speaking a word. With a heavy sigh, Diego walked away, giving Shira a loving lick before heading into the darkness.

He loved the darkness of the forest. There was something felicitous about how he felt when he was in the cover of darkness.. No one could see him like this..

Broken, weak..

He took a path, one that has become all too familiar to him. It brought him back. Back to better days, when things were simpler. It's funny really, this was the path he had always taken with Sid to play hide and seek with Cody.

"Argh..." He stopped, the image coming back to haunt him.. As it always does. Why? Why did this have to happen? Why did he have to be so stupid...

 _"Sid! Don't you dare!"_

The moonlight cast itself on him, giving way to an almost other worldly glow. Beneath him, a puddle presented itself, and he obliged. He studied his reflection, the scarred eye which was now becoming more and more useless as time went on, probably from the claw hitting it. The puncture wound in his paw.. The claw marks on his side..

The stupid sloth had actually jumped in the water, to save him. As Terra clawed Diego's back, trying to bring him down with her, Sid found the courage and jumped in the water on top of her, successfully knocking her off of Diego. And as Diego turned he only saw a flash of the two fighting before going over the falls. It was... Horrifying, to think that that's how it ended.

The thought was almost alien to him..All of those times he had gone out of his way to pick on Sid for screwing up, or being cowardly.. And Sid still commits this ultimate act of selflessness, knowing it would bring about his untimely end. He hated it, all of it. The way it makes him feel, as if Sid was a better friend than any one of them ever was to him..

Well.. There was truth to that. And as much as he hated to think about it, he could only come up with one conclusion to all of this:

 _You don't know what you have until it's gone.._

They had been unable to find the body.. Unable to find any remains. The only thing that they found was a trail of blood that led into the forest, but as they followed it, Manny and Diego quickly discontinued the search, finding the broken body of Terra partially eaten as a sign to end it there.

He was happy they didn't find Sid. If Terra's body was like that..Diego, against his will, could only imagine how Sid looked. The thought made him want to puke... As he had done before.

He had made his way to the top of a hill, to Sid's favorite spot... You could see nothing but berry bushes and trees for miles.. He sat down, taking in the view under the starlight of the Milky Way, which stretched it's dusty rays across the moon lit sky. Under the light, the shadows stretched across the land, joining the saber in a confused and conjoined knot of blackness unspeaking. _Millions of stars... Millions of animals.. And you had to be the one.._

 ** _Everyone I know goes away.._**

"Hey buddy," Diego said to the stars. His voice cracked, breaking up as he fought back tears he felt unacceptable to let fall. "Just uh.. Checking up. Wondering how you're doing." Waves of emotion set in as he sat there, attempting to keep his cool. A cool breeze hit his shoulder, causing him to shudder a bit, but took it with a smile and tried to keep it going.

"Yeah, yeah Cody is doing fine. He doesn't remember a thing..." Another breeze, a little sharper, nipping at his skin. He sat in silence, trying to think of something to say. He had done this every night and every morning, going to watch the sun rise and set at this very spot, and under the light of the stars finding conversation between him and nothing to be almost therapeutic.

"You know, I can't thank you enough.. Even though what you did was extremely stupid, you-" He was interrupted by his inability to finish the sentence. Tears streamed down his face as he mourned, still in disbelief that his friend suffered such a fate.

That it had to be Sid instead of Diego tore him apart.

Diego shook his head again, trying to clear his head of such thoughts for a single moment. Trying to claim a fracture of a moment of peace...

"You saved us.. You saved me. Thanks." He cleared his throat, attempting to clear the knot in it.

"Listen.. can you do me a favor?" He waited a moment, as if allowing his friend to ponder an answer.

"Can you watch over Manny and his herd? I mean.. Manny can handle himself but, he needs you bud.. more than I do. So, can you do that?"

Diego looked down with a solemn frown spreading across his face. In front of him, a rock jutted out of the short grass, with writing sprawled along the front in thin white letters.

 **"SID"**

He bowed his head, and let the tears fall. He didn't care about weakness, about pride or anything like that.. He just wanted his friend back.. but just like everything else, he knew the time would come. And as he regained his composure, Diego looked back to the stars.

"I'll see you later buddy.." Never a goodbye...

 ** _In the End..._**

 **This was pretty tough to complete. I had just lost a couple close friends of mine and this story reminded me of them, but I pushed through it. I did my best to keep it on topic, and I hope you like it.**


	8. Extension

_After everything I've done... And they still talk about me like that.._

* * *

..."Manny.. What if we don't find him? What if-"

"Listen! There is no 'what if' Diego! We either find him or we don't.." Manny's words cut through his friend like knives to a peach. Diego could tell that this whole thing had struck Manny right through the heart, it's the only reason he was so on edge.

Then again... Could he blame him?

"I'm sorry bud. I just... Don't want you to get your hopes up too high. That fall could kill anyone." Diego said in a soft-spoken tone as he trudged beside him through the forest. They were looking for Sid.. Or whatever was left of him.

It was Manny's idea, really. Probably spawned out of a need to know.. And Diego prayed he was ready for the worst. When they found each other, Diego could see the amount of pain Manny was in at the time the news was passed to him. It was awful, just painful to see him that way. So they both agreed to go look for him, though Diego had initially wanted to leave it a mystery out of the inability to cope. How could you do that? See your best friend.. Broken..

 _Mangled..._

Diego shook his head, clearing all negative thoughts was a must, especially around the now sensitive mammoth. They would look for Sid, find an answer and deal with it, though it was quite obviously easier said than done.

Diego looked up at Manny, and attempted to lift his spirits by nudging him, "Whatever we face... We face together."

Manny didn't respond. This made Diego smile a bit.

"Because..." Still no response.

Diego's determination picked up, "BECAUSE..."

Manny rolled his eyes, wanting to just keep silent. Why Diego continued to pester him was a question he didn't even want to answer.

"Come on Manny.. Say it.."

Manny sighed, and gave in. "That's what-"

"-You do in a herd."

"You do in a herd." Diego said with him. The saber watched Manny's facial expression, and thought he caught the tiniest flicker of a smile encroaching upon the saddened mammoths face. After a few moments, he was satisfied to find out he was right.

Manny sneered, "You're starting to act like Sid you know. It's a bad habit, might want to take care of that."

"Well, he did teach me how to swim.. And with how annoying he was? I'm sure it rubbed off some. He's good like that."

"Mhm." Manny quickly stopped dead in his tracks after the comment. Ahead of them was the site..

The bottom of the waterfall.

Diego slowly padded his way towards it and smelled the air. He was looking for Sid's scent. Surprisingly, Buck had made quite the observation about his smell.. And he was right, it really smelled like a Buzzards but fell off and got sprayed on by a bunch of skunks.

He didn't manage to catch Sid's scent... But he did catch Terra's. And with that he followed it through the forest, Manny quickly following.

It led them straight into the forest. Diego was hot on the trail, and with that trail came a line of horrifying thoughts.. What if he was eaten? What if Terra had dragged him off?

As he got closer to the source, the smell of blood began to fill his nose. It hyped him up, fear beginning to well up in his chest. Unable to take pressure he quickened his pace into a jog.

"Diego! Wait up!" Manny exclaimed as he tried to catch up. In his mind he had a good idea about why his friend was so hasty, and began to patronize himself with the same fear provoking thoughts... What they were to find was already known to be a bad indication of Sid's fate was his assumption at this point, and Diego's panicking pace only reinforced the inference.

Before long, Diego slowed down to an eventual halt. What he saw forced an unspeakable lump to form in his throat, along with his hair standing on edge:

Terra's body, mangled and half eaten lay crumpled atop a congealed pool of blood. Her lifeless stare broke through his soul.

"Manny..."

The Pachyderm was at a loss of words. He swallowed, and took a moment to gather his thoughts which raged and ran unorganized throughout his head.

"Manny.. If this sabers body is in this state, then-"

"Don't..."

"Manny.."

"Shut up Diego." The words were a warning. Diego sat in silence, his ears flattened apologetically. The mammoth was dispirited, this he knew.. And now he himself began to feel the effects.

"He just had to do it..."

* * *

Sid watched as Diego and Manny ran through the forest. He knew what they were doing, and to be honest? It felt good to know they were searching for him. He quickly began to waddle his way towards them, though with his newly sprained ankle and toes he found it difficult to apply much pressure to the wounds. Instead of following them, why not just get them on the way back?

 _Genius.._ he thought to himself. So he began to slowly make his way, falling behind them as he attempted to reunite with his best friends and family.

After waking up from the fall, Sid had to take aa moment to remember what happened. The impact must've made him suffer a minor concussion, and he accidentally walked off the path... Though he couldn't recall where. But now there was hope, and he was bound and determined to webs this dreadful nightmare. To be home again was all he wanted.

After several attempts to walk on his injured foot, Sid had quickly given up and decided to staybehind. He could still see them of course, but with the thick foliage, he doubted he would be able to make it through the prickers... Oh and he was just too lazy to move at the moment.

 _New plan.._ Sid watched silently as they conversed inaudibly over Terra's body. Things seemed to get heated rather quickly. Diego got up and started pacing, muttering to Manny intensely. He seemed to be... Angry...

He was about to shout out to them when...

* * *

"... HE'S SO STUPID!" Diego bellowed out at everything. He was pacing back and forth, frustration mixed with several other emotions pouring out of him all at once.

At first, Sid seemed a bit confused... Why would he say that? Then his mind began to wander, over thinking every little word in the sentence. A whirlwind of thoughts began to weave their own web of analysis as to the meaning of the phrase uttered by his feline friend. Why insult him? Why now?

Sid frowned. It's obvious that things didn't change.. Diego really thinks that? Still?

Sid began to retreat from the bushes, broken hearted that after what he did they still think of him as some stupid clutz. He began to waddle away, never once looking back.

* * *

"Diego get a hold of yourself! We're already outside of our territory, you'll only attract attention!" Manny hushed Diego.

"Don't you get it Manny!? He's selfish!"

"How?" Manny asked.

"It should have been me! ME! Not him, why did he have to suffer? I'm the one that doubted him, I'm the one that said all of those things to him!"

This caught Manny's attention.. "What are you talking about?"

Diego stopped. He quickly remembered that Manny wasn't there at the time.. Though now he wished he had kept his mouth shut.

Too late.

"I...I was angry." His tone quickly became hushed, almost submissive to the mammoth.

"What did you say Diego?" Manny inquired. His suspicion grew, quickly catching the submissive demeanor of the saber.

"I.. berated him.. he saved Cody by jumping off of a waterfall but.. when I looked at him I thought he was dead.. I.." He stopped for a moment.

"You.." Manny pushed him.

"I questioned his use in the herd, told him he was.. useles.."

Manny's heart sank. Rage began to burn inside of him, the thought that those were his last words to the sloth before it happened just blew his mind. He shook his head in disbelief, baffled by the effrontery of the saber. There was only one thing going through his mind..

"You're out of the herd..."

Diego's ears perked up at the comment. He turned, facing the crestfallen mammoth. "What?"

Manny pointed an accusatory trunk at him, "YOU'RE lucky you even had him as a friend.. Do you think he would have said the same to you?

"Manny I-"

"How could you? After what he went through.. How could you even say that?"

"I apologized.."

"And the scar remained. You can't take it back, even if he forgives you. Ever hear the words 'Forgive but never forget'?"

"I think about it all the time. How he must've felt...I was just angry, I couldn't control it!"

"And look at what it cost you..."

"Manny don't.. Don't do this. Not now." His voice cracked, wounded by the sharpness of Manny's words.

"I can't believe you Diego.. I expected more out of you!" He smacked the back of Diego's head. Diego huffed, letting out a sharp breath to keep from breaking down and crying in front of him.

"Look I said I was sorry! I didn't mean what I said!"

"Tell THAT to Sid.. See what he says." Manny said sarcastically. He began to walk away from Diego, who sat down, his back facing towards the fleeing mammoth.

"What would you have done if you thought your child was dead?" He said softly. Manny stopped in his tracks, pondering the question. Although he didn't want to admit it, Diego had a point. Manny remembered the times he had come close to saying some choice words to the sloth. With all of his shenanigans, added with Sid being obstreperous, Manny's fuse was almost always short. So... In a sense.. Could he admit that those words could slip? Especially if his daughter was...

He stood there in silence.

"It tears me apart everyday. I regret saying those things.. A-and I don't understand why Sid would save me..."

"It was because he loved you. Because that's what-"

"-you do in a herd.. I know." Diego said.

"Do you?" Diego asked himself the very same thing.

He turned around to face Manny, who stared into his very soul, searching for honesty in his answer.

"Yes. I'm sorry Manny. I wish it was me... But it wasn't."

That's all he needed to hear. "We'll find a rock and put it on top of the hill.. You can write his name. He would want you to do it."

Diego smiled sadly, shocked that Manny even thought about forgiving him. He padded his way to Manny's side, and together they both made their way back to the herd accompanied by a quietude which gave Diego time to lapse into a navel-gazing session on the phrase...

 _That's what you do in a herd.._ _I hope you know I'm very sorry my friend.._

* * *

Three months... Man... Things are bleak.

Diego awoke with a start as the sun blasted his eyes. He yawned, digging his claws into the dirt. Add he stretched out his muscles, the several pops giving him an indication of a well placed rest. He had fallen asleep next to Sid's grave, apparently having been lulled by the silence. Nonetheless, he quickly made his way back to his family.

Upon arrival, Diego was greeted by Cody, who jumped him and began to rub against his father affectionately. He smiled and put a paw on Cody's back, which only encouraged the cub to rub even more. Looking around, Diego found his mate standing next to a rock... Apparently talking to someone..

"Cody, what's your mother doing?"

Cody turned around and observed Shira for a moment before replying, "Talking."

"Shira?" He said as he slowly walked towards her. As he rounded the corner, he was paralyzed at the sight in front of him. He stumbled, dizziness quickly overtaking his ability to stand, and with a single movement he tripped and fell over, passing out.

"Good to see you too buddy.."

 **Well this chapter is sort of an optional extension. I know a lot of you didn't want to see Sid die sooo..**


	9. Update

Alright, just a quick update for you all. Yes, the fifth movie makes this story obsolete, but I'm _not done with it._ This story is officially AU. I'm going to pick up on it as soon as I can, I've just been preoccupied.

I repeat... This story is still a go.


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